Posts Tagged ‘Android’

We often get asked about what we are working on. While you can be sure we are always working, and that our work probably involves some version of PocketBible, we understand you may be interested in a more detailed explanation of what is going on behind the scenes. It is in that spirit that we are going to try something new with an occasional post on what’s in the pipeline for apps and books.

You’ll notice we don’t talk about release dates. We’ve been in this business for a long time and have learned that our best-laid plans often go awry. In fact, in the software business, that’s the rule rather than the exception. So we don’t spit into that wind nor tilt at those windmills. We’re pursuing the goals you see below at our best pace and will release new books and updates to our apps as soon as they’re ready.

Apps

PocketBible for Android – Working on minor bug fixes and improvements, releasing minor updates as needed.

PocketBible for iOS – Version 3.4.0 is current. Currently working on a major re-write to support scrolling of the text (in addition to the current paging mode) and simplifying highlighting, bookmarking, and text selection. This will be version 4.0.

Books

Here’s what our editorial team has in the queue for you (not in any particular order):

Additional volumes of the Ancient Christian Commentary Series (IVP)

Fixing typos and tagging issues in several titles

Additional Greek NT resources

NIV Exhaustive Concordance

Tree of Life Version (TLV)

Disclaimers: All this is subject to change in priority, feasibility, copyright licensing, etc. That means we reserve the right to never release these features or books. We are sharing with you the current plan which is written in sand, not stone. Also, just because something is not on this list doesn’t mean we are not considering it. Finally, we are open to your requests, suggestions and comments!

Are you the happy recipient of a new phone or tablet? Or a new Mac or PC? Congratulations! Here is what you need to know to get PocketBible on it!

First an important reminder – you never have to re-purchase any Laridian Bibles or books when you move to a new device. You may have to re-install a new version of PocketBible and download your books again but that is all FREE and we’ll try to make that as painless as possible with the tips in this article.

Install Guide by Device Type

Find your device type in the list below and follow the instructions from there:

iPhone/iPad/iPod touch (iOS) – go to the App Store from your device and search for PocketBible Bible Study. Download the free app and register it using your existing Laridian ID (or email address on file) and password. Tap on the Menu icon and choose Add/Remove Books. Go through the list of your books (should include all your previous purchases and free books) and tap on any you want to download at this time (you can always return to this list and download more later). Hit UPDATE at the top of the page to start the downloads.

Android OS – go to the Google Play store on your device (or Amazon App store if you prefer) and search for PocketBible Bible Study. Download the free PocketBible app. Register using your existing Laridian account information. Tap on the Dove icon and choose to Download Books. You should see your previously purchased titles along with all free books. Tap on each book you want to download (you have to do this one at a time). Check out our Android OS videos at our Youtube channel for some tips on using PocketBible for Android.

Kindle Fire – we are still working with Amazon to get our Android version of PocketBible to show up in the Kindle Store. In the meantime, follow the instructions at this link to download PocketBible from our site and install as a 3rd party app. HDX owners you can watch a video of how to install.

Windows Phone – Microsoft hides most of the free apps on their app store even if you search by the exact name of the program. The best way to find PocketBible for Windows Phone is to select a link on our site, like this one. Download the free PocketBible app for Windows Phone and install it. Register using your existing Laridian account information. Choose the Cloud Library from the menu. Tap on any title to download. Open downloaded books from the Device Library.

Windows Surface or Windows 10 – Like the Windows Phone Store, Microsoft hides most of the free apps for Windows. The only way to find apps is if you already have a link to them. You can download PocketBible here. It’s free. Run it, then register using your existing Laridian account information. Choose the Cloud Library from the menu. Tap on any title to download. Open downloaded books from the Device Library menu.

If you have personal data (i.e. notes, bookmarks, highlights) to transfer from an older device, first sync the data from the old device to our server (you can do this manually if you haven’t been doing it automatically), then enable automatic synchronization on your new device. Do a manual sync the first time to make sure you have all the data.

One final note – Advanced Feature Sets are sold separately for each operating system. So, for example, even if you own the Advanced Feature Set for your iPhone, you’ll still need to purchase the specific Advanced Feature Set for your Surface Pro or Mac OS X. However, if you own an iPhone and iPad, since they are the same operating system, you only need one copy for both devices.

As you may know, Laridian offers the SBL Greek New Testament for PocketBible on all platforms except Android. This was due to lack of decent Unicode support in Android before 4.4.

Now that we’re at the point where most of you are running Android OS 4.4 or later, we decided to go ahead and make the SBL Greek New Testament available for this platform. You’ll find it in your list of available downloads when you go to Download Books in the app.

If you’re running an earlier version of Android, you can still try installing and using this book, but you will find little rendering problems depending on your version of the operating system. We can’t do anything to fix these. And users of 4.4 and later may also discover little rendering issues but we’re not aware of anything major.

[EDIT: These problems have been fixed. If you’re having trouble with OS 6, make sure you’re running the latest verson of PocketBible.]

We are in the process of fixing some problems that keep PocketBible from running correctly under the latest release of Android OS.

The core of this problem is our valiant attempt to continue support for older devices for as long as we can. Both iOS and Android OS tend to be advanced without due diligence paid to compatibility with older versions of the operating system. Here at Laridian we’ve been long-time believers in not abandoning versions of operating systems that our users are still running. However, the practice of our industry is to drop support for devices older than about two years (the length of the typical cell phone contract) and since the companies that create the operating systems also create the tools we use to develop PocketBible, it is often impossible to do anything but go along.

Android OS 6 is incompatible with certain features of PocketBible that are there to support pre-4.x devices. We’re in the process of removing support for those operating systems and will release an update as soon as possible. In the meantime, there is no work-around short of not installing OS 6.

PocketBible for Android version 1.4.2 has been released to the Google Play Store. If you downloaded the app from Google Play, you should be automatically updated. If you are using a Kindle Fire (or other non-Google Play device), you can download the latest version by browsing to http://lpb.cc/android while on your device.

The new version 1.4.2 update adds a Book Navigation Assistant (bottom toolbar) to the app. This new toolbar includes the following new and previously-released options:

Backward/Forward – the separate left and right pointing arrows will take you backward and forward respectively through your movements in the app.

NEW! Recent Verses – the list/clock icon will give you a list of recently visited verses and allow you to return there by choosing the verse reference.

NEW! Bible/Commentary Sync – the stacked arrows icon will immediately sync your verse-indexed books, such as Bibles and commentaries, to the same verse.

The new bottom navigation bar can be hidden along with other toolbars by double-tapping the screen. Your toolbars can be set to optionally show/hide this way via Settings | Control Settings in the PocketBible app.

Additionally, cross-references will now be reported in search results (where applicable) as “Referenced Here.”

New to Advanced Features! For those who own the Advanced Feature Set, a new library search option is now available on the overflow menu that lets you search all your downloaded books at once for a word or phrase. We have also added the option to turn off My Special Offers notifications in the Control Settings.

The PocketBible Bible Study App for Android is free. The optional Advanced Feature Set can be purchased at the Laridian web site or inside the app for $9.99.

If you are using PocketBible on your Android OS device or Kindle Fire, here are some good reasons to upgrade to the Advanced Features (and how to do it).

Why upgrade?

The Advanced Features available for PocketBible on Android smartphones and tablets offers some handy additions to the basic features of PocketBible.

You can watch an overview of the Advanced Feature Set below:

Autostudy – Verse, Word or Today

Autostudy makes it easy to pull information out of your library on a specific verse or passage. Choose a verse and AutoStudy will put together information about that verse from your PocketBible Bibles, commentaries, cross-references, etc. on one page. It can even give you a definition from your installed dictionaries for every word in the verse. You can get more details on this feature in our article: Have you discovered Autostudy? You can also do a today Autostudy that puts all your Bible and devotional reading for “today” on one page.

Autoscroll

Autoscroll will scroll the text of a Bible or book for you for easier reading. You can adjust the speed at which the text moves along. This feature is great for public or devotional reading.

Listen to the Bible

Would you like to have PocketBible read the Bible to you? The Advanced Feature Set adds the ability to do this using the text-to-speech voice already installed to your Android device. These voices are synthesized which means they are electronic and therefore not always perfect in pronunciation or inflection. However, they don’t take up as much space on your device as an “audio Bible”. There are many benefits to listening to the Bible. I have found this feature extremely handy for keeping up with my Bible reading in the car, as I clean the house, on a run — time that might otherwise be wasted can be reclaimed for a good purpose.

Journal Notes

Even if you are not a prolific note-taker, you will enjoy the new Journal feature. PocketBible already lets you add a note to any Bible verse or book passage. Now you can create multiple free-form notes not attached to any book, that can be used for any purpose you’d like.

Customize your colors

New color options include the ability to rename your highlight colors. For example, you could change the label for salmon to love and use your highlights to collect and categorize specific verses (see video of this). We’ve also added an option you can use to create your own personalized color scheme for the app (see video of this).

How to upgrade

If you are already using PocketBible 1.4.0 or later:

Purchase the Advanced Feature Set at our web site for $9.99 (it is also available in-app – choose Buy/Apply upgrade from the menu).

Open PocketBible on your Android device and the Advanced Features should be automatically applied – a quick message will flash across letting you know this. If you miss the message, you can double-check on the menu | About PocketBible. It will say it is using the “Advanced Feature Set” there if it is installed.

If you are still using PocketBible 1.3.0 (or earlier) for Android, you can update by visiting our Google Play Store page or following the instructions for installing from our website for Kindle Fire and other devices not connected to Google Play.

PocketBible for Android version 1.4.0 has been released to the Google Play Store. If you downloaded the app from Google Play, you should be automatically updated. If you are using a Kindle Fire (or other non-Google Play device), you can download the latest version by browsing to http://lpb.cc/android while on your device.

This update provides the capability to add notes to non-Bibles and supports the newly released Advanced Feature Set for PocketBible for Android. The Advanced Feature Set can be purchased from within the app (Dove menu | Buy/Apply Upgrade ) or via our website for $9.99. If you purchase in-app, the Advanced Features will be applied automatically. Otherwise, choose Buy/Apply Upgrade from the menu and it will be applied.

Advanced Features

Automatic verse studies. Select a verse and PocketBible presents the following to you. (See video of this).

The text of the selected verse from all your Bibles (you choose which ones)

The text of the selected verse with Strong’s numbers (if you own one of our Bibles with Strong’s numbers)

The definition of each English word in the verse from all of your dictionaries (you choose which ones)

The definition of each Strong’s word number from your Strong’s dictionaries (you choose which ones)

Commentary on the verse from all your commentaries (you choose which ones)

Cross references from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (if you have it installed)

Automatic today studies. Select a date and choose your Bible reading plan and Bible translation. PocketBible will give you today’s (or any day you select) Bible verses to read in a convenient one-page format. You can also have it put together all the readings from your devotionals for a specific day.

Listen to the Bible. Let PocketBible read the Bible or any book to you with its text-to-speech capability. (this feature only requires Android OS 4.1 or later)

Auto-Scroll text . Set a book to auto-scroll for easier reading. Increase or decrease the speed of scrolling to match your reading speed. Great for public or devotional reading.

Journal. Create notes which are not attached to any verse or book.

Customize Color Schemes. Specify colors for text, background, etc. exactly how you like it. See video of this.

Rename Highlight Colors. Name your highlight colors to something meaningful to you and categorize by name and color. See video of this.

One of the amazing uses of PocketBible is for delivering a message. It’s layout and features provide an excellent electronic Bible with its own built-in notebook, and it has all the tools you need to prepare your message, whether it’s for the classroom or the pulpit. This tutorial will look at setting up the message in PocketBible and then using the multi-screen feature for preaching and teaching.

Setting up the Message

There are several features of PocketBible that help in preparing sermons and classes. The features I like are Notes, Bookmarks, and Highlights. Here are a few of the ways that I use them together to prepare sermons.

NOTE – PocketBible has a lot of fine tools for the actual sermon prep itself including Bibles, dictionaries, commentaries, study Bibles, books, and more. We’ll go into detail about using them for sermon prep in future posts.

Notes

Tap on the verse where you want to place a note and select the notebook symbol on the Action Bar. In the notes area, you can type or paste in any kind of information you want. You can format your text to make it easy for you to use. Bullets are great for simple outlines. Add things that you want to make sure you remember to say. At the end of the note you can type the next verse. This will create a clickable link so you can quickly navigate to the next verse in your sermon.

Bookmarks

Once you’ve chosen the references you will use, you can bookmark them in a folder just for this message. I like to name the folder with the title I use for the message. If I need to, I can go to the bookmarks list and see every verse that I’m using in my sermon. This list can also be used to navigate to the next verse in your sermon.

Highlighting

This step is optional but I find it easier to see the verses I want to use if I’ve highlighted them. I like to use a different color for different topics. If my message is about the Scriptures, I like to highlight the verses green. This helps when navigating to the next verse. You can find it quicker because you know what color to look for. This is more effective when you’ve only colored the verses in your sermon that color. You might consider using a special color or marking just for this message.

Example

For my sermon I’ve created a bookmark folder called Sermon 001 The Word of God. It contains references to the following verses: Ps 119:11, Ps 119:16, Ps 119:80, Ps 119:89, Ps 119:105, 2Ti 2:15, 2Ti 3:16, 2Ti 3:17, 2Pe 3:16. I’ve colored all of these verse limegreen and each verse has a note with my primary point and a link to the next verse.

Ps 119:11 is the first verse I want to go to. It has a note that talks about the importance of memorizing Scripture. It also has a link to the next verse – Ps 119:16. The note on Ps 119:16 talks about how we should enjoy reading and studying the Scriptures, and how we should keep God on our minds and in our hearts by thinking and meditating on the Word. After this I have typed POINTS TO MAKE followed by two bullets:

Love the Word

Memorize the Word

After the note is a link to Ps 119:80, which contains a short note and the next reference. I continue this until I reach the end of the message. This can be as detailed or as simple as you want. If another point or verse comes to me during the sermon, I can navigate to it and still have my notes visible so I know where to go next.

PocketBible for Android version 1.3.0 has been released to the Google Play Store. If you downloaded the app from Google Play, you should be automatically updated. If you are using a Kindle Fire (or other non-Google Play device), you can download the latest version by browsing to http://lpb.cc/android while on your device.

This update features full devotional/Bible reading plan tracking and the ability to sync your reading progress with your other devices. Complete details on how you can use this new feature are included in the Devotional section of Help.

GoTo Navigation – we’ve added two alternate methods for going to a specific verse in the Bible: Calculator and Spinner. The default remains the current style of the Book/Chapter/Verse picker. You can change styles from the menu: Settings | Program Settings | GoTo Style.

New highlight options – you can now choose Underline, Dotted Underline or Dashed Underline as a verse highlight option.

You can now delete PocketBible books from your device without an internet connection.

My Special Offers – you can now see any special offers available for you when shopping inside the app.

PocketBible for Android version 1.2.1 has been released to the Google Play Store. If you downloaded the app from Google Play, you should be automatically updated. If you are using a Kindle Fire (or other non-Google Play device), you can download the latest version by browsing to http://lpb.cc/android while on your device.

The major new enhancement to this version is to the search capabilities. We have completely overhauled the search feature to make it more thorough, more flexible, and more usable (no Boolean operators needed!).

Easier Searching, Better Results

Type any word or phrase in the search field. The results you get back will be broken out and ordered by relevance. There are 5 key results you’ll see:

Exact – whatever you searched for was found literally in the text, in that exact order.

All – We found places in the text where all the words you searched for were present, but they were not in any particular order.

Any – These sections contain any key words you searched for. We ignore some words based on how frequently they are used (a, an, the, etc.).

Roots – We found these sections based on slight variations of the word you searched for. This accounts for things like verb tenses, pluralization, and the like.

Sounds – These sections contain words that “sound” like what you searched for.

In addition, a new display setting has been added to allow you to mark or not mark search results in the text (Menu | Settings | Display). Search hits can be marked by color, bold, etc. and this is a temporary marking while the search is active.

Focus Your Searches for Faster Results

When you are creating a new search, you’ll see that you can limit searches by custom ranges – this would include pre-defined sections of the Bible or a specific book of the Bible. You can also choose to search only verses you have highlighted or bookmarked previously. Plus you can now search your own personal notes.

Search by Strong’s Number

We have had many requests in the past for the ability to search your Strong’s Numbered Bibles (i.e. KJVEC, NASEC, HCSBEC). This feature is also included. If you have open and active your Strong’s numbered Bible, you can search in the following ways:

Simply enter the Strong’s number (g26, for example) to see all occurrences of that Strong’s number.

Enter a colon and the Strong’s number after a word (love:g26) to see all verses where the word love is translated from the Strong’s word g26.

Enter a colon and hyphen plus the Strong’s number (love:-g26) to find all the occurrences of a word that are not translated from that particular Strong’s word.

Complete details on how you can use this new search feature are included in the Help option of the navigation menu in PocketBible.